Page 41 - Transformation Report 2023

The demographic profile of the Research Chairs indicates lack of diversity at senior academic levels, including as- and 58% were South African citizens and permanent resi- velopment workshop series offered over 90 workshops, in
that 78% of incumbents are at Professor level, 39% are sociate professor and full professor, remains a challenge. dents. A total of 132 (95%) were taken up as of 30 October which 815 PGs and 399 employees participated.
female and 61% male, while 44% are from the African, Plans are underway to increase the number of rated re- 2023, and of these, 70% were Black, 37% were women
Coloured and Indian population groupings and 56% are searchers within the community of early and mid-career and 58% South African citizens and permanent residents. Patents and commercialisation of
from the White population grouping. researchers. Increasing the number of young, rated re- The projected investment in postdoctoral and research intellectual property
searchers will contribute towards diversifying the acade- fellowships for the 2024 academic year is R30-million.
To further support the expansion of our research chair my at senior levels, which will also increase PG superviso- The University, through its subsidiary Innovolve, conclud-
profile, discussions are underway with an industry part- ry capacity at doctoral level. The outcomes for the rating The University has been allocated a budget of over R86.5- ed one of its most significant technology licensing agree-
nership to increase the number of industry-funded re- applications, including renewals, are still being processed million by the DHET since the inception of the New Gen- ments to date, enabling a South African small and medi-
search chairs and to enter partnerships with other South by the NRF. eration of Academics Programme (nGAP) in 2016. This um-sized business to enter the renewable energy sector.
African universities to leverage the establishment of ad- programme makes a valuable contribution to the devel- Close communication with researchers helped to identify
ditional joint research chairs. opment of young academic staff with doctoral qualifica- and protect intellectual property arising from their work,
Research-Related Outputs tions. A highlight over the review period was that two and to explore commercialisation opportunities through
more academics obtained their doctoral degrees in April, the formation of spinout companies and licensing of in-
Rated Researchers bringing the total number of nGAP doctoral graduates to tellectual property generated.
Preliminary data shows that the number of publications five. Active recruitment is underway to fill four nGAP va-
per FTE staff increased from 0.66 in 2022 to 0.67 in 2023, cancies, which will increase the Mandela University cohort Progress was made in technology transfer projects, which
The number of NRF-rated researchers has not improved a YoY variance of 1.5%. The APP target for 2023 is 0.80. to 21. The cohort currently consists of 17 Black academ- include the licensing of Active Pharmaceutical manufac-
significantly over the past 5 years. In 2023, 91 researchers ics, of whom 11 are women. turing intellectual property and of intellectual property
were rated. The demographic profile of these researchers Publication units increased YoY from 556 in 2022 to 573 related to the production of solar grade silicon.
shows that 38% are female and 62% male, while only 23% in 2023, which exceeds the target of 565 by 1.4 % (see As previously indicated, the BAAP is another project
being from the African, Coloured and Indian population Table 24). which is being coordinated by the Research Capacity Propella Business Incubator has provided vital support to
groups and 77% from the White population group. The Office to enhance the diversity of our academic profile. start-ups founded by employees, student and Gqeber-
The Black Academics Advancement Programme (BAAP) ha-resident entrepreneurs. In 2023, Propella graduated
currently funds five academics, two of whom are wom- ten ventures focusing on technologies with an industrial
en. These grant holders are committed to PG student application such as prosthetic engineering technologies,
training and augment supervisory capacity. The Thuthu- innovative dental solutions, and innovative aquaculture
ka Funding Instrument is a further key NRF intervention systems. This was after completing a 3-4-year business
aimed at supporting emerging researchers. In 2022, there and technology development industrial incubation.
were 15 active Thuthuka grant holders at Nelson Mandela
University, of whom 93% were Black and 67% women.
Over the past three years, the National Intellectual Prop-
erty Management Office funded two positions in the of-
As previously indicated, the BAAP is another project which fice, contributed to operational costs and also support-
is being coordinated by the Research Capacity Office to ed the office through various funding initiatives. During
enhance the diversity of our academic profile. Over the 2022/23, the Technology Innovation Agency provided
period under review, a combined investment of close to funding of about R2-million for three new projects: green
R1.5-million was awarded to 41 early-career researchers hydrogen production, recovery of precious metals from
towards research running costs, teaching relief and con- waste and PV modules reuse.
ference participation. In 2023, the research capacity de-

Table 24: Institutional Key Performance Areas on Research Outputs for 2023 Relative to 2022 and 2021.

Research Management Enhancing Research Capacity

Increasingly, research practice is strengthening within the This section should be read in conjunction with the PG
institution and researchers are publishing in top open Success Interventions on page 19.
access journals. In 2023, the University increased income
generation from external research grants, including inter- Postdoctoral and research fellows at Nelson Mandela
national grants and industry research partnerships. More University have a unique opportunity to demonstrate
than R63-million was mobilised, mostly from NRF Re- originality, creativity and productivity that will serve them
search Chairs and international research grants. Income well in their research careers. A total of 139 postdoctoral
generated from NRF grants for PG bursaries was more and research fellowships were awarded over the review
than R23-million and R6.8-million was allocated to emerg- period, and of these, 67% were Black, 38% were women
ing researchers.

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